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Looking for advice on a small tank dent.

  • Thread starter Thread starter frijoles-and-beans
  • Start date Start date
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frijoles-and-beans

Guest
I have a new tank that I bought off of a member here recently. It is in good shape except for a tiny dent on the left bottom of it. I'm getting a little obsessed with it.

Today I bought this stuff called Pop-a-Dent. It is some "as seen on tv" kind of stuff. I have been having some success with it so far. The dent isn't as pronounced as it was before. I applied it several different times, and each time, the dent would come out just a little more. I think that I am now at a standstill with it. It will not move anymore. It uses some "professional grade" glue for a glue-gun that comes with it. It also comes with a contraption to pull it, but it is for a car and doesn't fit quite right onto the tank.

I have been using a nail, applying the glue to the head, letting it harden, and then pulling it. This is where my success lies. The question I have is do any of you guys know a glue or epoxy of some kind that would hold stronger than that glue-gun glue, but that I can remove later. I don't want a nail permanently stuck onto my tank.

Is there some kind of glue that I can apply that has a solvent? You know, something that will remove it later. I wish that I had my nice pristine tank that I started with, but I don't. I would like this tank to be like the one I had before. Do any of you have a solution? Have any of you tried this? Is there another way? I hope someone can help.

I will inevitably get the advice to not worry about it, but it's driving me crazy. Anyone know what to do? You guys seem pretty smart, and able to figure this problem out. Help a fellow GSer to make his tank look pretty again. After I pull the dent, I want to paint it.

Help me out; I'm getting desperate. It's just a tiny tiny dent, but I would like to paint it, and I don't want to have to use the Bondo type of stuff. I want the original tank with the original metal. Is that asking for too much?
 
Yes, you are asking too much. Even the pro's use bondo so get over it. In fact, the pro's use a lot of bondo some times; slim coat over large surface area which allows them to make the panel dead flat after sanding. Even automotive assembly plants use bondo when fixing units that get pranged in house. Just make sure the dent is shallow and properly prep the metal and you have nothing to worry about.
 
Those little hot glue gun pullers are great for some dents. If the dent is creased in any way shape or form, it wont touch it. There are plenty of ways to reduce the amount of Bondo you may have to use, and I HATE bondo so bear with me. If you have a few bucks, a pin style stud welder is the first thing you need. It will weld a smallisg pin to the spot you choose. After welding the number of pins needed, you will attach a small slide hammer and GENTLY hammer the dent out a little at a time. Youll need a flat file, infact the finer the better for this. Once you get the dent close to flush, remove the pins, they just snap off, and run the file lightly over the area. Shiney places are high spots, other are low. Try to keep all the places you pull lower to flush with the good areas. Once you get the area close to where it looks like you beat on it with a ball peen hammer but the right shape, then you get to add some filler. Not the reason I hate bondo is it was invented to be a wood filler and doesnt have the sticking power of the flexibility that a little fiberglass does. And any Harry Homerowner store carries both now. For me, If buy a small glass kit with all the parts, resin and such and fill with that instead. I found a great vid of the process for studding and pulling the dent. And Harbor Freight has the tools for cheap. Remember, Bondo sucks.
 
Really if it's that small a spot welder is overkill.Just a little bondo will not do any harm whatever.You will forget about it once your new paint is on.
 
All good suggestions. I know that I'm reaching maybe a little too far Nessism, but I'm determined to keep it all original metal. I decided that I won't paint it until I figure it out. There's this guy in town that's supposed to be able to take the dents out from the inside with some kind of contraption he made. I have been trying to get ahold of him with no luck so far. I hope to contact him soon.

So I'm just going to keep it with the ding on it for now. It's a blue paint scheme which doesn't really go with my black side panels, but it's running like a beauty right now, so I won't worry too much.

The suggestions give me food for thought, so maybe I will figure this out soon. I might just try making some contraption too, to push it out from the inside. It would take some precise bending of re-bar, I suppose. You know, tie some material onto the tip and push it out. I'm not sure yet, but I will get this, if it's the last thing I do.
 
I used a Ding-King and a bit of bondo for mine. Work it real good and it goes away.
 
Fill it, man. "Bondo" brand filler (specifically) is crap. Use a good quality plastic filler like Evercoat, and you won't have any problems at all. Lots of paint-less dent removal businesses say they can push them out from the inside, but it's not easy. You don't get much leverage going through the filler hole, plus steel tanks are way thicker then they think, not like today's paper-thin cars. Even as thick as they are, you're still taking a chance of burning a hole clear through the tank if you've never used a stud gun before, and then you're really screwed. If you're determined keep it all metal, maybe hire a pro to use lead, but that too is more money, time, and effort that should go into a small ding, and truly doesn't work any better, or even as well as today's quality plastic fillers. It's a very, very good product when used correctly.
 
If the dent has no crease you could always try the dry ice method. Ive tried it once and it worked ok. Google it and crap loads of videos come up. Like I said, Bondo is for those who dont/cant do sheet metal work. IF you need to fill, go with fiberglass.
 
Hammered said:
If the dent has no crease you could always try the dry ice method. Ive tried it once and it worked ok. Google it and crap loads of videos come up. Like I said, Bondo is for those who dont/cant do sheet metal work. IF you need to fill, go with fiberglass.
Click to expand...

I second this as I have used it many times after wheelin on my truck. Works better if he can press from the inside though.
 
I used some Bondo Prestige filler for my last couple of projects and it's an excellent product. It spreads smoother than the regular bondo and feathers out nicely. Bondo is made by 3M these days, although I don't think it used to be that way.

I've pulled dents before by silver brazing a nail onto the metal and then pulling the nail with pliers to lift the dent. I've seen guys braze with a mapp gas torch before so it's easily doable. In the end though the goal is to get the metal close to but not over flush. Over flush is bad since you will then have to hammer the metal back down. Under flush to within 1/8" is fine - that's were the body filler comes in.
 
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I have pushed some dents out from inside the tank with a curved bar through the gas filler opening.Depends on where the dent is and if it cooperates.
 
I am with Ed on this, you will never get it perfect without using filler of some sought, even in small amounts.
Problem is that when the dent is formed, the metal is stretched and now you have extra material to deal with, where is it going to go? That extra material is what causes the wrinkles.
Even the the craftsmen of yesteryear used lead as a filler in place of the modern fillers.
when you see a show piece with that "like a plate of glass" look, you better belive that there is at least a thin layer in patches of bondo under there.
That is just the way it is.

I am sorry, I can not agree, filler is not some evil devils brew to be avoided, that is ridiculous.
It is modern technology at work, making our lives easier, that would be like saying GPS's are the devils work and one should rather use maps.
 
Flyboy said:
I am with Ed on this, you will never get it perfect without using filler of some sought, even in small amounts.
Problem is that when the dent is formed, the metal is stretched and now you have extra material to deal with, where is it going to go? That extra material is what causes the wrinkles.
Even the the craftsmen of yesteryear used lead as a filler in place of the modern fillers.
when you see a show piece with that "like a plate of glass" look, you better belive that there is at least a thin layer in patches of bondo under there.
That is just the way it is.

I am sorry, I can not agree, filler is not some evil devils brew to be avoided, that is ridiculous.
It is modern technology at work, making our lives easier, that would be like saying GPS's are the devils work and one should rather use maps.
Click to expand...

I never said it wasnt hard to do, but you cant plate over filler. And there are some very good fabricators out there. And just so you can see, I present a chrome plate BSA fuel tank, sans ANY filler.

65-8222.jpg
 
There are two uses for body fill. The correct one in which it is sparingly used only as necessary and the other which it is used to preform an entire repair by gobbing it on.

Get the metal as well reshaped as possible then go from there. Tanks are pretty heavy gauge steel compared to body panels.

I have used the cooling and heating trick before without success.
I was using an inverted can of compressed air to do the cooling and a heat gun to heat the surface. Deformed metal can not return to its original state it will alwys have stretched to some degree.
 
JEEPRUSTY said:
There are two uses for body fill. The correct one in which it is sparingly used only as necessary and the other which it is used to preform an entire repair by gobbing it on.

Get the metal as well reshaped as possible then go from there. Tanks are pretty heavy gauge steel compared to body panels.

I have used the cooling and heating trick before without success.
I was using an inverted can of compressed air to do the cooling and a heat gun to heat the surface. Deformed metal can not return to its original state it will alwys have stretched to some degree.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%
 
Hammered said:
I never said it wasnt hard to do, but you cant plate over filler. And there are some very good fabricators out there. And just so you can see, I present a chrome plate BSA fuel tank, sans ANY filler.

65-8222.jpg
Click to expand...

Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.
 
Flyboy said:
Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.
Click to expand...


How could they get this so smooth? Lead filler? Thick copper plate that is then sanded down?
 
Flyboy said:
Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.
Click to expand...
Nope, tank was a rescue from a junk yard. All the repair work was done with a tig and took about 6 weeks of tap and bump work. Course Wonky (the gents name who did this tank) is more passionate about BSAs then his wife I think. Hes a bit of a loon though and by no means your average bodyman. Hes never used a bit of bondo in the 30 some years of doing what he does. IF he needs to fill, he prefers to lay fiberglass. It flexes easier with metal than filler and can add strength. Ive been prone to using spot filler in a few instances, but I stopped using poly filler since I met Wonky. Im not sure Id classify Poly filler as "evil" but I would stand behind the statement that its 100% unnecessary. Its the quick fix solution IMO.
 
Flyboy said:
Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see that tank up close. It wouldn't surprise me if there is some wavy metal in various places.
 
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